If we haven’t been doing enough adventuring on the trip so far, we have certainly made up for it in the last week and a half. Since the A-Team left you last we have departed from our Gold Coast home and made serious tracks heading north. We have hit Hervey Bay and done some down right bad ass adventuring on our way.
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| Final surf at Southport Beach, Gold Coast |
Sandboarding can be a treacherous activity on small sand hills and we didn’t want to disappoint. South Stradbroke was our first stop and just 5 mins away from our spot at Dux Anchorage was some rather large hills that also happened to be on the steep end of the sand hill spectrum. We attacked these with 100% commitment and boarded until our legs refused to carry us back up the hill. Combined with this adventure we also got in to some amazing surf just before we headed off to our second stop at North Stradbroke Island.
Just across from the northern end of Russell Island we anchored at North Stradbroke with the afternoon to explore. We hiked to one of the highest points of Stradbroke and topped off the day with a fire and marshmallows. Our activities were nice but came a sure second to the unreal sunset and wildlife that put on a show at the end of the day.
Moving on from here we pulled in to Horseshoe Bay at Peel Island for a swim and walk with lunch thrown in, before reaching our port, Manly. Here we recharged batteries, fridges, water tanks, coffee and caramel slice addictions for 2 nights. It was all just enough to keep us going for what was to be an unreal day 32.
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| Cptn Watson with Forte 2. Found again after he sold it in 1989! |
No swell, no wind and the beautiful Moreton Bay for a playground. En route to Tangalooma we had the best day of motoring yet and let our adventuring hair down at this opportunity. The deckhands decided to attach a rope to Le Vessel and jumped on the surfboard to be towed across the bay in a once in a lifetime session. We arrived to the Tangalooma Wrecks with the day only getting better. Fifteen sunken ships and beautiful water became our playground for the afternoon with only a handful of other boats around.
Overnight the weather unfortunately turned sour and the next day resulted in a windy trip up to Mooloolaba. It was a cruisy afternoon but an adventurous night as it was State of Origin game 3 and we were in the heart of enemy territory. We’d bunkered down at Mooloolaba Surf Club and were forced to hold our tongues as the NSW team were taught a lesson and we were able to escape unharmed.
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| New friends putting on a show on the way to Gary's Anchorage |
With an early start the next day we were blessed with better conditions and had a relatively harmless passage to Gary’s Anchorage on the inside of south Fraser Island. This area is seriously tidal and after a perfectly relaxing morning we were in for a stressful afternoon/evening doing some 4WDing with Le Vessel over the nastily hidden sandbanks trying to reach Hervey Bay. A mockingly perfect day in terms of weather, we were left gazing upon the surrounding beauty as we sat high and dry a number of times along the trip. A heart stopping 5hrs later and we were all done and tied up safe at our destination.
Never a dull moment with the A-Team and with Fraser Island and the highlight of Lady Musgrave Island to come it is sure to roll on.
Stay Classy, Le Vessel.
